


Cut

by roseslotusvioletiris



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: 7x07, F/M, Hurt!Hailey, Slow Burn, protective!Jay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseslotusvioletiris/pseuds/roseslotusvioletiris
Summary: 7x07. Hailey gets injured from the car crash.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 1
Kudos: 126





	Cut

**Author's Note:**

> I disregarded the part of the episode where Hailey and Cameron had to change clothes and “disinfect” themselves. Also, I imagine Hailey and Jay watching The Crown together. They are into historical dramas, okay. 
> 
> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! I don’t own anything mentioned in this fic. Also, two weeks until the end of winter hiatus!!!

With Book on the ground, Hailey felt her guard begin to lower. This caused her adrenaline to decrease as well. 

“Shit,” She swore, raising her hand to clutch her head. She didn’t remember hitting her head when the car crashed, but nonetheless the pain was excruciating. 

Her hand was covered with blood when she brought it back down. 

Well, this wasn’t good. 

Cameron was then in her line of vision. “Fuck, Hailey,” His hand reached out to touch her forehead. 

She was sure he meant well, but his touch made the pain even worse. 

“I’m fine.” She stepped away from him, not having the heart to tell him that his comforting didn’t help. She even had to bite her cheek to keep herself from making a noise from the pain. 

“You should go to a hospital—“

She probably should. But they literally were in the middle of a case, for god sakes a dead man was a few feet away from them, so she wasn’t in any hurry. 

Before she could brush off his concerns again, the rest of Intelligence showed up. Well, more like Jay showed up and got into Cameron’s face. 

“What was that?” Jay demanded, pushing her CI in the chest. 

“Woah man, I didn’t do anything—“

“What was that?” Cameron was ignored, as Jay repeated his question. But it was clear he wasn’t looking for an answer, paying no mind to any rebuttal coming out of Cameron’s mouth. 

“You put her in danger—“

While she was hoping a distraction would deter attention away from her injury, this wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. In fact she would rather be getting checked out at Chicago Med than witness her partner and CI fighting in the middle of a crime scene. 

“I didn’t know he was gonna do that!”

“Well you should have!” 

Without considering the consequences, Hailey inserted herself between Jay and Cameron and gave her own push to Jay’s chest. 

“You need to calm down!” It was louder than intended, given the environment, but necessary due to Jay’s intensity. 

The yelling from Jay stopped. His pissed off expression on his face began to change as he realized Hailey was in front of him instead of Cameron. 

Of course his attention went straight to her forehead. Before she could attempt to convince him that she was fine, his fingers were already holding her cheek. 

His fingers felt featherlight against her skin. Almost that she wouldn’t have been able to tell they were there if he wasn’t tilting her head gently to the side to get a better look at her cut. 

She couldn’t keep her face from reddening. The combination of Jay’s hand against her cheek and the amount of people around witnessing made her feel incredibly vulnerable. 

“It’s just a cut, Jay.” 

His fingers gently prodded around her wound. At one point he pressed too much for her comfort, causing her to let out a small gasp of pain. 

“Sorry.” He softly murmured, dropping his hand. His mouth was twisted down into a frown. “You need to go to the hospital though.” 

She extended an olive branch. “I’ll go after shift,” Not wanting to discuss her injury any further, she turned her attention to the dead Book.

She presumed someone had already called the incident in. And while she was aware of the toxic chemicals that had been exposed, she still took a cautious step forward, wanting to get a better look for the sake of the case. 

But when she took that step, she stumbled. Jay’s hand quickly wrapped around her arm, preventing her from meeting the pavement.

“Yeah, we’re going to the hospital.” There was finality in his voice. 

Hailey didn’t resist being guided to one of their cars. She wasn’t happy about going to the hospital, being prodded at and cared for, but knew she couldn’t do her job in this condition. 

When he tried to help her get in though, she stopped him. “I can get in by myself.” She told him, barely managing to keep her frustration out of her voice. 

She hated being prodded over. She knew Jay was just concerned, and she appreciated that, but it was easy for her to get irritated despite the good intentions. 

He stepped back with his hands up, giving her space. And, to Hailey’s relief, didn’t say anything when she took her time getting in. 

That was one of the things she loved about Jay. He cared but at the same time gave her space and trusted her to make her own decisions. 

As soon as she relaxed into the seat she was able to discern the pain she was feeling more accurately. She thought it was from her cut, but realized she felt it through her entire head.

She started to lean her head against the window and close her eyes. Jay’s hand shot out to grab her thigh, jolting her back to her original position. 

“Don’t sleep.” He didn’t even have the audacity to look at her when he made the order, looking to his left as he made a turn. 

Ignoring how good his hand wrapped around her thigh felt, Hailey focused on his words and replied back with irritation. “I was just resting my eyes.” 

Jay was unfazed by her bite. “You can’t go to sleep after having a head injury.” He pointed out, finally turning his head to face her. 

Seeing the concern on his face made her less defensive. He wasn’t trying to boss her around, he was only worried about her. 

“I forgot that you are practically a doctor because your brother is one.” Being more relaxed, she found herself able to tease him like normal. 

“It’s on my resume.” He quipped back. 

Hailey snorted. Doing so unfortunately caused her head to hurt worse. “Ow.” She couldn’t help but slip out a vocal compliant, raising her hand to tenderly hold the back of her head. 

“Okay, stop being funny. Noted.” Jay said. Hailey had to press her lips together to keep herself from laughing again. 

Neither of them acknowledged the fact he pressed down more on the accelerator. 

———

Will Halstead was the first person they saw as they walked through the emergency room doors. 

Hailey resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Jay had to have informed his brother that they were arriving. There was no other possible explanation. She only had a cut on her forehead, Will should be treating far more important patients. 

“Please tell me you are having a medical student do this.” Hailey gestured to her head. 

Will only looked to Jay, ignoring her. She sighed, realizing that Jay not only informed his brother, but requested that he would have Hailey as his patient. 

She opened her mouth to complain, but quickly closed it. Better for her to get this over with. Then Will can get back to his actual work. 

The three of them went into an empty room, where Hailey was directed to get on the hospital bed by Will. 

“That’s a pretty nasty cut, Hailey.” 

She watched as he pulled on a pair of gloves. “This won’t take that long, right?” Her and Jay could possibly make it back to work with only being gone for an hour. 

“I’ll just need to stitch it up and then you’ll be good to go.” 

Hailey gave Will a relieved smile. 

But Jay decided to pipe in. “I think she has a concussion too, Will.” 

Traitor. She threw her partner a glare, which he ignored. 

Will became more concerned at the news. “Then I’ll be sure to check after I stitch this up.” He gestured to her cut. 

Hailey nodded, swallowing her disappointment of most likely missing the rest of shift. And resisted throwing Jay a stink eye. He was only thinking of her best interests, and even though a part of her wanted to ignore a possible concussion, she needed to take care of herself. 

She’d be back working in no time, she told herself. 

Hailey jumped in surprise when a wet cloth was pressed against her forehead. 

“Sorry,” Will dabbed the cloth gently around and on the wound. “Just cleaning the cut.” 

“It’s fine.” 

She suppressed another flinch when he began to suture her cut. To ignore the pain, she focused her attention on Jay in front of her. 

It was unnecessary for him to be in the room, but he was still here. He didn’t seem to notice her looking, his eyes instead on Will’s hands patching her up. 

Once Will stepped back, presumably done stitching her back together, Hailey let go of a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. 

She wasn’t a fan of hospitals. The dislike only heightened when she was the patient as well. 

A few seconds passed but Will didn’t return to the wound. Relieved, she leapt out of the bed, ready to head out. 

Her vision got hazy as her feet hit the floor. She stumbled, similar to earlier, and once again Jay caught her before she could fall. 

“He needs to check your head, remember?” 

His voice was soft, almost a whisper. The one they used when they were talking to a person in distress. 

And one he used with her at times. When they were disclosing with each other or wanting to get a certain point across. 

If it was anyone else, she would feel babied, prodded over. But this was Jay. With him it just felt natural. 

They weren’t alone though, Will was in the room, which made Hailey instinctively shrug off Jay’s arm. 

Knowing she didn’t have anything helping her stay steady, her hands grabbed onto the side of the bed. 

Yeah, she most definitely had a concussion. Finding that properly diagnosing would be counterproductive, she suggested to omit that. 

The Halstead brothers didn’t like that idea. And of course, Jay spoke up before the actual doctor in the room. “We need to make sure there’s nothing else going on. What if you have a brain bleed?” 

Before Hailey could remind her partner that he was, in fact, not a doctor, Will spoke up. 

“It pains me to say it,” Will shared a shit-eating grin with his brother, who rolled his eyes in return. “But Jay is right.” 

Hailey internally deflated. More time spent in the hospital then. Which inevitably included at least some kind of test. 

Her negative thoughts quickly came to a halt as Jay dragged a chair against the tile floor. The screeching caused by the friction wasn’t particularly welcomed though. 

Especially with her head injury. She must have made a face, as Jay quickly gave an apology. “Not quite doctor material.” He said, squeezing her shoulder with a grimace. 

Jay’s presence was substantial to keeping her grounded, much like when they were on the job. She couldn’t imagine being here without him. 

Of course Will had to burst her bubble with the news of separating them. “I’ll be taking you up for a CT. And you’ll wait here.” He directed the last part to Jay, with a warning tone to his voice. 

“Shouldn’t I change?” 

Will tilted his head towards a perfectly folded hospital gown next to her bed, giving her a nonverbal answer. He then left the room and closed the door behind him, presumably to give her privacy. 

However, he did leave her alone with Jay. Which was interesting. And odd. 

Speaking of Jay, he turned his head away, his own version of giving her privacy. 

Admittedly, she was glad. She was a fall risk right now and she’d rather Jay catch her naked or almost naked body than the other Halstead. 

Thankfully she didn’t have much trouble changing, choosing to sit on the bed when doing so. 

She had the gown on but was having trouble tying it together. Focusing on tying the strings was making her head hurt. Sighing, she turned to Jay, admitting defeat. 

“Can you tie the back?” She said, turning back around again to avoid seeing his face. There was no need to make this more awkward than it already was. 

The next thing she knew, his fingers were on the first set of strings. 

He tied them quickly, as he moved down her back to tie the second set. His fingertips brushed against her spine. If she wasn’t aware of what he was doing, it would have taken her a second to realize what she was feeling. 

But still it was enough to give her goosebumps. 

“Cold?” She could hear the smile in his voice as he asked. He was messing with her. 

“You’re insufferable.” Was all she said, now once again facing him. She began to pull on the hospital socks that were next to the gown. 

When she looked up, Jay’s head was down checking his phone. His face was full of concentration—it was clear whatever he was preoccupied with was work related. 

Guilt filled her chest. Having Jay with her was selfish. It wasn’t like she was in a critical condition, she had a measly cut and a possible concussion. 

“You should go.” She spoke up, fiddling with the bedsheet. Internally she was yelling at herself to stop, to not say anything and allow Jay to stay with her. 

But Intelligence was working two people down. Getting Jay back would be hugely beneficial to the case. 

He rolled his eyes in response. It was as if her suggestion was the most ridiculous thing in the world. “It’s fine.” 

“It’s not fine. Our unit is working two men down right now—“

The door opened. Will was back, coming in right during the middle of Hailey’s rant. He was unfazed, in complete doctor mode. “Alright, I’m going to take you up for the CT scan now.”

She noticed a wheelchair behind him. Like clockwork, her mouth opened, the words of how she was fine, that she could walk by herself, were on the tip of her tongue. But she closed her mouth. There was no need to beat a dead horse. 

So she took the arm Jay offered, giving him a grateful smile as he helped her into the chair. 

As Will was wheeling her out, she grabbed hold of the doorframe. “You better be gone by the time I get back!” 

Another eye roll, paired this time with a laugh. Hailey sighed, knowing she will be seeing Jay Halstead in the same exact spot when she came back into the room. 

————

“Okay, now you can leave.” Hailey said once they were inside her apartment. 

The CT scan didn’t show anything concerning, so she was allowed to go home. Per Will’s orders she was off the job for at least a week, with a lot of rest. 

Jay grabbed his chest, feigning offense. “You really want to get rid of me that badly?” 

Hailey rolled her eyes, not giving him a verbal answer. There was no use to continue pressing when he wasn’t going to head back to work. 

“You heard your brother, Jay.” She started to walk through her apartment, heading towards her bedroom. Jay was close behind, right on her heels. “All I need now is rest. Which doesn’t require your assistance.”

He continued to follow her despite her reassurances. Once she reached her bed, she whirled around, her face inches away from his chest. 

Annoyance was brimming at the surface. “All right,” She crossed her arms and tilted her chin up to meet Jay’s eyes. “If you won’t leave, at least tell me why.” 

At that Jay became visibly uncomfortable. He broke eye contact with her, choosing instead to look everywhere and anywhere else. His tongue also dragged across his top lip, which Hailey found to be particularly distracting.

“When the car crashed earlier....” For the first time since his confrontation with Cameron, Hailey was seeing Jay’s emotions unravel. But instead of anger, he was expressing fear. “...I was really worried, Hailey.” 

She reached out to grab his hands. They were shaking, she realized, only stilling when she held them. 

Before she could comfort him, Jay continued talking. “And then the gunshots going off...” 

She felt his hands forming into fists. Her fingers rubbed gently over his knuckles, wanting to help him release his tight hand muscles. 

After a few strokes, the tension began to slowly leave. Despite this she continued her motions, finding it to ground her own self as well. 

She wasn’t aware of today’s events having such an effect on him. Memories of when she thought he was shot flooded into her brain. 

This made her tongue tied, losing sight of what she was going to say. That she was fine? There was no need to worry? Because no matter what, they were always going to worry about each other. 

Hailey let go of his hands. “You have to promise you won’t watch the next episode of The Crown, though.” 

She couldn’t help but crack a smile when Jay visibly relaxed and gave her a nod. Did potentially leaving cause him that much distress? 

Their relationship was beginning to scare her. Unlike avoiding the situation by getting drunk and sleeping with someone else, which was how her entire relationship with Adam started, Jay didn’t leave her side. There was no pushing away. 

She knew she was welcoming the change, open to it. But she couldn’t let it affect work. Boundaries had to be set in that regard.

“Your ass is going to work tomorrow too, cause it won’t be here.” She told him, complete no-nonsense in her voice. 

Jay mimed a salute. Hailey was still too mystified by his 180 personality change to laugh. The only thing keeping her from completely freaking out was the caution still resting in his eyes. 

“Well, I’m going to...” She gestured to the bed, and started to get in. Jay began to leave her room, but hovered at the door. 

It wasn’t until she closed her eyes that she finally heard his footsteps walking away.


End file.
